... At the University of Virginia Health System, doctors studied the use of a combination of Avastin with another chemotherapy drug, CAMPTOSAR (irinotecan), in patients with recurrent glioblastoma [brain tumors]. The researchers found the drug combination was able to shrink the tumor in 63 percent of patients. ... Neuro-oncologist David Schiff, M.D., says about 30 to 40 percent of patients who no longer respond to standard medical therapy have shrinkage of their tumor with Avastin.
... Company executives point to recent studies, including some by the University of Virginia and the University of New Brunswick, that show that interactive whiteboards, which can set a school back between $3,000 and $5,000 for each unit, can improve student learning combined with proper teaching strategies.
... [Gov. Tim Kaine] has given $750,000 to the University of Virginia to train nurses, and in July of 2007 nursing faculty received a 10 percent increase in salary.
... So what are polls? An illuminating conference at the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs dealt with that question last spring, and it is worth revisiting now as the final polls emerge. ... Nick Winter, of the University of Virginia, spoke of concerns that polling tends to misrepresent public opinion by forcing respondents to answer the questions in terms that pollsters invent-not in the terms that respondents themselves use to think of politics.
... He ran for president during the best possible conditions for a politician running against the incumbent party -- a country saddled with two wars and teetering on the brink of a recession, including a Wall Street meltdown that amounted to an October surprise. "He won because he was the Democratic nominee in a year that was just perfect for Democrats," said Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia.
Senator Barack Obama won the election by gaining an extraordinary level of support among young people, African-Americans and new voters, exit polls show. ...Political science professor Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia [who co-anchored the BBC's election-night coverage] says that the Democrat's appeal to women has been one of the most important keys to his success.
Seasonal affective disorder or SAD can be a debilitating depression that begins in the autumn and continues through winter. A new study indicates that SAD may be linked to a genetic mutation in the eye that makes a patient less sensitive to light. ... "These individuals may require brighter light levels to maintain normal functioning during the winter months," said Ignacio Provencio, University of Virginia biology professor who studies the genetics of the body's biological clock, or circadian rhythms. Provencio and his colleagues have discovered that melanopsin, a photopigment gene in the eye,...
Cordel Faulk
Communications director for the Center for Politics
Undecided Voters Struggle to Pick A Candidate
WCAV CBS-19 / Nov. 3
http://www.charlottesvillenewsplex.tv/home/headlines/33794254.html
Bob Gibson
Executive Director of Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership
Virginia Politics Update
"Virginia Insight" on WMRA Public Radio / Nov. 3
http://www.wmra.org/inchive.html
Jonathan Haidt
A psychology professor and author of "The Happiness Hypothesis"
Why this election matters to us - and to our dogs
Irish Times / Nov. 4
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2008/1104/122552...
By R.K. Ramazani, professor emeritus of government and foreign affairs who written extensively on U.S.-Iran policy
... The only practical option is to talk with Iran directly and unconditionally in the enlightened self-interest of the United States.
A new study indicates Seasonal Affective Disorder could be genetically linked. The condition involves depression in brought on by the lack of sunlight. UVA researcher Ignacio Provencio says there's evidence links the disorder to a genetic mutation in the eye that makes patients less sensitive to light.
UVA's School of Architecture has lost two key senior faculty and a dean this year. This might sound like a precipitous situation, but members of the faculty regard the loss as a recurring cycle. 'It is normal for a school to have a turnover in faculty,' says Associate Professor William Sherman. 'Especially a school like the University of Virginia, where we have faculty who are being constantly sought by other schools.' It would be a 'sad condition' if other schools were not interested, he says.
By Larry Sabato, a politics professor and director of the Center for Politics
... Elections in this country are marked by a vigorous, often coarse dialogue, and that has always been the case. So just how much soil did the dirt of 2008 leave on John McCain and Barack Obama compared with other recent presidential nominees? ... in a democracy, rough-hewn campaigning is a substitute for the more vicious means of change practiced in totalitarian regimes, including the coup d'etat and street riots.
With 500 buildings and more than 40,000 students and employees, UVA is a big consumer of water and energy. But, as Director of Energy and Utilities Cheryl Gomez explained when the University met with members of various city neighborhood associations, members of City Council and of the city's Planning Commission at its annual Neighborhood Advisory Group meeting, the University has implemented its green mission by using renewable and recoverable resources and finding solutions to stormwater problems. ... UVA is using 30 percent less [water] than 10 years ago, despite an increase of almost 35 per...
An experimental drug known as MK-677 that stimulates growth hormone secretion in the body can boost muscle mass in older adults, perhaps combating physical weakness or "frailty," researchers report. ... "Frailty is one of the scourges of elderly persons, and as researchers are beginning to learn about its causes, they are asking whether growth hormone deficiency is one of them," Dr. Michael O. Thorner, from the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, and colleagues explain in the latest issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The promise of MK-677 is that it seems to restore gro...
Pat Hunter and Aer Stephen
Two founders of Charlottesville's Air Raid Juggling Club in the late 1980s
Here's a hobby in which everything's … looking up
Charlottesville Daily Progress / Nov. 2
http://www.dailyprogress.com/cdp/lifestyles/columnists/article/heres_a_hobby_in_which_everythings_looking_up/30510/
Cathy Lesser Mansfield
Law graduate, and author and composer of 'The Sparks Fly Upward,' a musical that uses documentary photos as it examines three families affected by the Holocaust
Holocaust notes
Des Moines Register / Nov. 2
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20081102/EN...
There are four University of Virginia alumni campaigning for seats in the U.S. Senate, but recent polls suggest only one of them is likely to claim victory Tuesday night. That's the junior Senator from Texas, freshman Republican John Cornyn. ...The other UVA alumni campaigning for Senate seats are Tennessee Democrat Robert Tuke, who earned a B.A. from UVA in 1969, and Republicans Jim Gilmore of Virginia and John Neely Kennedy of Louisiana. ... There will also probably be a smaller representation of UVA graduates in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Dr. Steven DeKosky
Dean of the School of Medicine
Learn about Alzheimer's / An education conference on Wednesday focuses on minorities.
Newport News Daily Press / Nov. 1
http://www.dailypress.com/features/dp-life_alzheimers_1101nov01,0,732603.story
Cordel Faulk
Communications director for the Center for Politics
Southside Voters Critical in 5th District Race
WVIR NBC-29 / Nov. 2
http://www.nbc29.com/Global/story.asp?S=9280391&nav=menu501_11_18
Jonathan Haidt
A psychology professor and author of "The Happiness Hypothesis"
In the search for happiness, the plot often thickens
The Gazette (M...
... Doctors at the University of Virginia, however, have found a way to prevent head and neck injuries on the gridiron from turning more serious en route to the hospital. ... [Dr. David] Diduch headed up research at UVA to find the best way to transport young players, discovering that leaving a player's helmet on provides stability that's crucial in preventing head and neck injuries from getting worse.
Researchers at the University of Virginia are beginning to test a medication they say may treat college-age adults who are genetically predisposed to binge drinking.